Split, April 28, 1997 (IKA) – The Religious Communities in Croatia in the Process of the Integration of the Croatian Society was the theme of an international symposium held in Split from April 24 to 26. The symposium was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Croatia and organized by the Institute for Applied Social Research Split Center and the Croatian Academic Association Split. The presentations
during the symposium were divided into four topics Religion and Integration, Religion and Social Integration under Contemporary Challenges, Confessional Associations in the Integration of the Croatian Society and the Characteristics of Religious Integration in the Challenges of Interculturalism. The symposium concluded with a round table comprised
of all the lecturers and participants.
On the first day of the symposium, presentations on the topic of Religion and Integration were made by Dr. Don Ivan Grubišić, who opened the symposium with a discussion on “Religion, Structure and Integration of the Croatian Society”; Dr. Inge Tomic-Koludrović on “The Concept of Integration in Contemporary Sociological Theories” and Jakov Jukić on
“Reductions in Integrational Authorization.” Dr. Don Ivan Grubišić acquainted those assembled with the role of religion in Croatian history and the ethnic and ideological-confessional structure of the Croatian society. Don Grubišić also presented several indices of international and interconfessional relations and discussed the role of the religious
communities in the integration of the Croatian society. Jakov Jukić asserted that it would be necessary to assess the actual likelihood for religion to retain a role today and tomorrow in the primary integration of the religious communities within the integration of the Croatian society regarding pluralism, democracy, mass media culture, secularization and the
need for tolerance and coexistence. A presentation by Patrick Michael of Paris on “The Function of Religion in the Situation of Global Recomposition: Politics and Religion After the Fall of Communism,” concluded the second day of the symposium on the topic of Religion and Social Integration in Contemporary Challenges. Prof. Michael mentioned
that the fall of communism began prior to 1989 because the mental separation from communism had been accepted much earlier. He emphasized the crisis of all instruments of coordination, in the societies of the East and West as well as in the Churches, as a problem of all centralized institutions. In the discussion following the presentation, this was
identified as a key conclusion from the second day of the symposium.
Within the framework of the same subject, presentations were made by Irene Borowik of Krakow on “The Integrative and Disintegrative Role of religion in the Process of Transformation in the Central and Eastern European Societies”; and Eileen Barker of London who spoke on “The Position of New Religious Movements in the Former Soviet Societies.”
Several domestic lecturers, including representatives of various religious communities in Croatia, delivered presentations on “Confessional Communities in the Integration of the Croatian Society.”
On the last day of the symposium, Evangelical Bishop Dr. Vladimir Deutsch spoke on “Christian Ethics A Bridge of Integration.” Discussing ecclesiastical and new spiritual movements, Stipe Tadić pointed out that these actually refer to movements within the Catholic Church that are not officialy established but spring up spontaneously and are very open ecumenically.
The symposium on The Religious Communities in Croatia in the Process of the Integration of the Croatian Society concluded with a round table during which the distinguished Croatian theologian Dr. Don Drago Šimundža emphasized the error of considering the integrational processes only in Croatia, i.e. separate from the European milieu. Among the significant
integrational currents, he emphasized the development of much greater dialogue, tolerance and the importance of accepting that it is no longer possible to speak of a monolithic but of a pluralistic society and that it is necessary to accept religious pluralism.
All the presentations and discussions at this international symposium in Split will be published in a volume of the proceedings.